The
lone, cloaked traveler stepped out into the misty nothingness. The
canyon, the mountain.... it was all too familiar. Jack turned around
and headed back towards the swaying fields of yellow, deep in
thought.

Looking
up at the surrounding hills, Jack saw large stone dragons, overgrown
from what seemed like thousands of years. In fact, these statues had
stood here for millenia in the mountainous regions of northern Japan.
Jack felt a sense of familiarity about the lush, green hilly region
for some reason, however.

As
the stalks of grain waved in the gentle breeze, Jack's mind drifted
back to a time long ago.....

A
young boy ran through the fields of grain, intently following
something. He was hot on the trail of a stray grasshopper he had seen
streaking through the grass. Staring ahead in a determined manner, he
furrowed his brow and set his mouth in a straight line.

Merely
a few feet behind the pesky insect, the young boy reached out his
hand to swipe the bug. He missed, but only by a few inches this time.
He continued to follow the leaping bug, imitating its hops with sheer
glee. The child was about to reach the bug when....

Another
child, a female, came into his path. She was also chasing a
grasshopper, and both of their prey escaped as they looked at each
other. Ebony eyes met equally large black eyes, and they held there
for a few seconds.

The
girl smiled as did the boy, and they quickly realized that there was
two bugs to be caught. They chased after their prey all over that
grain field in northern Japan, on a summer day so long ago. When they
reached the easternmost edge of the field, the girl realized that she
did not have the grasshopper.

Sadness
clouded her large eyes, and the boy quickly had to do something.
Awkwardly, he brought his hand from out behind his back. Uncurling
his small clenched fist, the child revealed a paper grasshopper he
had made. The girl accepted his gift and quickly pecked the boy on
the cheek.

The
young boy smiled as the girl ran off, giggling.

Jack
refocused, touching his face lightly where the girl, Mei Hua, had
kissed him so long ago. They'd had much fun together as children,
until her father joined a trade caravan headed west to the other
settlements. Jack never saw Mei Hua after that.

"Maybe
if I go back, I'll see her..." he mused, then deemed this
chance impossible.

"I
am a man on a mission. I came not to stop here and dream while Aku is
destroying the world!" Jack's conscience tried to tell him,
but he shook of the sense of duty for a few moments more.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack
started to walk towards the ruins. He saw what appeared to be the
remains of an ancient, arching wooden bridge. It looked so different
from so long ago..... Now it was gray and mangled, a petrified memory
of glorious days gone by.

The
bridge was familiar....

The
same young boy stood next to a beautiful clear river right next to
town. He admired the leaping salmon, smiling at the pale pink fish
and watching the sun's spray of light on the glinting water.

Suddenly,
from behind, he heard a noise. Young Jack turned around to see a
tall, dignified man wearing a long black robe. He was pushing a cart
with a small boy around his age in it, a child that appeared rugged
and proud.

Jack
watched the man approach several dangerous outsiders on the
vermilion-colored arch bridge. He stood silently in the gray, early
morning sky and slowly opened his eyes to see the four men. With
sudden, lightning-fast reflexes, the father took out an extremely
powerful sword and slashed each man, knocking every one off of the
bridge.

The
moment seemed all too fast for Jack to take in at once, and he felt a
great admiration for the stranger with the amazing sword. His jaw
hung open in awe as the man simply placed the child back into the
cart and walked over the bridge very causally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~`~~~~~

Jack
once more returned to the present, horrible day. To live in the
past.... He faced the ruins, once-magnificent stone statues and
monoliths, once-beautiful traditional buildings.

He
could still see people milling around the palace, he could still see
the hopeful faces of people underneath parasols, strolling on without
a care in the world.

When
he looked again, it was nothing but a barren wasteland....
"Everything I once knew.... beautiful and peaceful.... it's
gone!" he shouted inside his mind, not wanting to destroy
the placid scene.

Tears
reluctantly filled his eyes and silently spilled out as he closed his
eyes and stood up from his kneeling position. Jack then walked over
to what was once a large palace, his home. In the present day ruins,
he saw a small, weathered object.

Jack
picked up a leather ball, feeling a dusty, unwelcome and distant feel
on its rough surface. It was not always such a depressing object.....

~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~

Young
Jack kicked around a white, small leather ball that his father had
made from extra cloth last year. He kicked it around merrily inside,
then took the beloved toy outside into the gentle spring weather. The
streets were lined with beautiful, pale pink sakura trees. The
blossoms that fell from them were soft and delicate, a sight Jack was
used to as a child.

He
went into the park with his toy, smiling with a glee that only a
child could experience. Before long, however, a gang of bullies
swiped the ball and held it above the small child's head. They
grinned menacingly and taunted the child for a while, until they grew
bored of him.

They
walked away, their leader tossing the cloth ball up and down. Jack
frowned and sat down by himself under a sakura tree, alone and
feeling very down. He noticed a small bird and threw some crumbs for
it to eat. Soon, several birds came and were eating the treats that
he tossed to him.

There
was such a flock that when the bullies entered the walled park once
more, they were attacked by the pigeons at Jack's command! He used
the fluttering wings as a cover and quickly made off with the ball.
As he walked on the bridge above the bullies, Jack smiled to himself
and whistled contentedly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~

Twenty-something
Jack popped back to reality and once more looked at the wasteland in
that corner of northern Japan, then at the small, ancient toy he
held. He hugged it to himself and wished for days past.....

One
last memory came to Jack...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~

The
child Jack ran down the main cobblestone street in that small
Japanese village. He didn't stop to admire the beautiful cherry
blossoms or to watch the flocking people, he just continued running.

Up
ahead, there stood a man and a woman. On either side were soldiers,
many fierce-looking men armed with shields and swords. The man was
tall and dignified, his head partially bald due to the hair style of
ancient times. The woman was short and benevolent-looking; she had a
warm motherly smile.

She
was Jack's mother, of course. In the distant time, young Jack
hugged the woman tightly, feeling a loving bond between them. He also
spoke to his father with reverence and love at the same time.

The
two faded quickly as Jack felt himself flying away.... away from
them and through time.... to his present state of mind. The samurai
clenched his fist and let a few last tears fall.

"Mother...
Father.... if only I could still see you.... The rifts of time have
driven us apart, and I fear that in this barren land, our heritage no
longer exists. The touch of our once-beautiful civilization has
faded...." he thought, eyes to the ground.

Suddenly,
in front of Jack's eyes, a pink sakura petal drifted by. It landed at
his feet, not moving but very set apart from the wasteland around
him.

"Could
it be?"

The
streets of ancient Japan, the avenues filled with happiness, the
river full of salmon, and the two loving people seemed to return to
that one petal, those ancient echoes of a civilization sitting in a
tiny flower.

Jack
picked up the petal and looked at it. Examining its perfect,
delicate, smooth pink color, he saw a drop of wetness touch the
petal.... from his own eyes.

He
felt himself smiling for an instant, if even for that long. He had to
defeat Aku.... he had to return to that time that he so richly loved
and remembered, the familiar bliss resting deep in his heart.

"Do
it for ancient Japan..... do it for us...." the many
citizens seemed to proclaim in the whispers of the gentle swirling
zephyrs.

On
this wind were many voices.... almost musical. They were Jack's
surroundings, his home. They sang for the future, for the samurai,
for the hope for what once was.

The
samurai set his mouth in a firm line. "You destroyed this, Aku,"
he said aloud, sweeping a hand over the expanse of lush green
nothingness. "And you will pay."

He
let the petal fall, but it did not touch the ground. It floated on,
nearing the glaring sun as it swooped through the sky towards the
horizon.

END
NOTES: how was it? Could it be longer? Should I do a sequel? I kind
of liked how this turned out.... wasn't that eppy really sad and
depressing? Oh well, those memories are all the more reason that Jack
should return to his own time.... poor, lost samurai.

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